


Fresh Start

by coldphoenix



Series: Fall Of The King (One-shot trilogy) [3]
Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-21
Updated: 2017-02-21
Packaged: 2018-09-26 03:29:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9860237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coldphoenix/pseuds/coldphoenix
Summary: With nothing left on Earth for him anymore, Piccolo decides to travel to Namek to start a new life for his child.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I got inspired to write this after speaking to somebody on tumblr about the previous one-shot, Moving On. This is just a little conclusion to Piccolo and Katas's story. I probably could have made this more detailed and emotional, but I chose not to because I didn't want to put too much of my time into this, and also I didn't want this fic to take any emotional significance away from Fall Of The King, which I still believe is powerful and very emotional, and it should stay that way. Like with Moving On, this fic could either enhance the impact of Fall Of The King, or significantly reduce it, so please be warned about that before you decide to read on. Thank you!  
> N.B. The 'Escar' name is reference to a fic I just started, entitled Past Is Past. I like to make connections :D

_Whirr_. Piccolo Junior listened to the quiet engines of the spaceship as it carried he and his young child to a faraway world. He wasn’t looking forward to this… Part of him knew he would hate it. He would be bored. Immensely. That, and… it wasn’t his home. Not what he’d come to call home, at least. Earth was his home. It was where he’d hatched. It was where he’d grown up. It was where he’d met his friends. … It was where he’d buried his friends. It was where he’d lost everyone that he’d ever known, one by one… … That was as good a reason as any to leave. Junior looked once more at his luggage. He didn’t have many worldly possessions, but there were a couple of things he would treasure forever… two cards. One from Dende and Mr. Popo, and the other from Pan’s children and grandchildren. Both of them said words to the effect of ‘good luck’, and ‘we’ll miss you’… hm. The first card was sincere; Junior was confident of that. The second… that was just Pan’s family being polite. They didn’t really keep in touch with him anymore. Still… it was nice that they’d given him something. It was nice that they’d made the effort to bid him farewell. It was nice that they’d invited him to that wedding… that was where it all began. As Piccolo Junior turned his head to look at his sleeping toddler, the event that had started this whole thing replayed itself in his mind.  
_“Boo!”_ The young Katas had giggled, ducking out from behind a chair to pull a friendly face at another child. It was a human girl, some family friend at the wedding reception of Pan’s youngest grandchild.  
_“They look like they’re having fun.”_ The mother of the little girl had commented, smiling as she watched the children playing. _“Does he make friends easily?”_  
_“… Yes.”_ Piccolo Junior had answered, not really knowing the answer to the question. Katas didn’t get much of a chance to interact with other children; it was just him and his father. Then… Piccolo Junior had watched Katas and the child for a second… and all at once, his heart had become filled with dread. It was overwhelming. It was like nothing he had ever experienced; like nothing he had ever wanted to experience in all his life. He’d felt sick, as if the very essence of his being was being destroyed. All at once he’d felt consumed by an intense, white fear like nothing he could have ever imagined in all the centuries of his existence. It was like a nightmare… but it wasn’t a nightmare. It was a prophecy. In that split second, Piccolo Junior had seen the next three hundred years of Katas’s life. He’d seen a short spell of happiness, followed by centuries of misery. As clear as day, Junior had seen Katas befriend this little girl, and a number of other humans. He’d seen him care for them, and love them, and become happy with them… and he’d seen the agony Katas would go through as he watched them die. One by one. Centuries before him. He’d seen Katas ending up heartbroken and alone, desperately clinging onto whatever shreds of his youth he could grasp… but all too soon, there would be none. The world would move on without him. With every generation that passed Katas would become more and more alone… In that one moment, Junior could see all of that. And it had terrified him.

He was gone within a week. He couldn’t get the thought out of his mind. He didn’t want that for Katas. It was all Junior could think about. He didn’t want his child to go through what he went through; he didn’t want him to end up alone, wondering why the hell he had to live so long after everyone he cared about was gone. What choice did Junior have? The more he thought about it, the clearer it became… he had to leave Earth. His child would only suffer there.

So… that was it. This was it. Junior found himself on a spaceship, travelling to somewhere far away. Far away from everyone he’d ever cared for. Far away from the memories and reminders of those he’d loved… far away from everything he’d ever known, in pursuit of a better life for his child. Earth wouldn’t be Katas’s home. It was his birthplace, but he wouldn’t remember it. It would be nothing more than a story to him. Home for Katas was this place now. Junior’s ears twitched slightly at the sound of the engine changing, and he felt the ship land at its destination. New Namek. New home.

He scooped the sleeping Katas up into his arms and picked up his luggage as the doors of the ship opened. Piccolo Junior stared out at the planet, beyond the comforts of his Earth-built ship… This was it. Once he got off this ship, it was over. This was a new life. He wouldn’t know anybody here. He might not even like anybody here. He would be bored here, Junior was certain of that. He would probably go crazy sometimes, and wish to go back to Earth… but for what? Nothing was there for him anymore. At least here, Katas could have something good. Maybe it was meant to be like this… Maybe Piccolo had always been destined to return to his people. He just needed a good enough reason.  
“Da!” Katas shouted, waking up with excitement, as always. He keenly pointed towards the open door of the ship, and struggled against his father’s grasp. “Da!”  
“Yeah, we’re here.” Piccolo Junior sighed. Well, at least one of them was excited about this…

He stepped off the ship, to be greeted by a large array of Namekians. Jeez… was the whole town here?  
“Piccolo!” One of the elders greeted him with a wide smile. “I hope you had a good journey.”  
“Uh… yeah.” Piccolo Junior answered, setting Katas and his luggage down. “Thank you… for accepting me, um…?”  
“Moori.” The elder smiled. “We have met before.”  
“Right…” Piccolo Junior mumbled, his cheeks darkening slightly. Right… he did recognise this guy, he just couldn’t remember his name. Moori had aged a lot… Junior was somewhat surprised he was still alive. “So… what do you need me to do around here? I’d like to contribute to the village.”  
“Oh – of course.” Moori nodded. “But we can discuss that later, let’s get you settled in first. We have a house for you, you’ll be next door to Cargo.”  
“Hi.” A younger Namekian offered Piccolo a smile. Piccolo looked at him, flinching slightly. Cargo…? Wasn’t that Dende’s younger brother? He’d certainly grown since Piccolo last saw him. “You probably don’t remember me…”  
“I do.” Piccolo Junior smiled back. “It’s good to see you. You’ve grown.”  
“Haha, well… I have a family now.” Cargo spoke, and pointed over at a nearby rock. Junior followed his finger, frowning slightly when he saw what appeared to be nothing but stone… but then, he noticed a pair of antennae poking out from behind it. Huh. Junior raised his head slightly to get a better view of the hiding creature; it was a child. He looked about Katas’s age… and Katas noticed. Immediately, Katas broke away from his father and raced towards the child, unfazed by the amount of new faces staring at him.  
“ **Boo**!” Katas shouted, hurling his face in front of the child. The child flinched and let out a sharp cry, seemingly startled by him.  
“Oh – sorry!” Piccolo Junior gasped, slightly embarrassed. “Katas – come here!”  
“It’s okay.” Cargo laughed, waving a hand. “Escar needs to come out of his shell. All the other kids are too old for him – I think it’d be good if they spent some time together.”

Piccolo Junior paused for a moment. ‘Escar’…? What was that…? He was sure he’d never heard the name before, but for some reason… the sound of that word made him feel somewhat… uneasy. Like he remembered it, somehow. … Hm. Whatever. Junior settled his eyes on the children, watching as Katas persistently attempted to play with Escar.  
“Boo!” Katas yelled, ducking in and out from behind the rock. “Boo! Boo! Ah… **boo**!”

Escar watched him, timidly at first, unsure of what to make of him… but this strange new person wasn’t going away, and he didn’t seem like he wanted to cause Escar any harm… Slowly, and cautiously, Escar started to smile.  
“Boo…” He spoke softly.  
“Boo!” Katas grinned, thrilled by Escar’s response. He ducked behind the rock again, and jumped out. “Boo!”  
“Boo!” Escar hid behind the rock, and with a sudden burst of excitement, he threw himself over the top. “ **Boo**!”  
“Ahahaha!” Katas laughed excitedly. “Boo!”

Piccolo Junior watched the scene with a small smile upon his face. Well… maybe this friend would last a few hundred years.


End file.
